You want to know what Sporting News did in 2011 that was really stupid? We bet against Alabama by picking LSU as our preseason No. 1 team.

We know, we know—what fools!

And here’s the real kick in the pants: We weren’t smart enough to learn from that mistake. We actually repeated it—Tide no, Tigers yes—in 2012.

And that really makes Week 10 salt-in-the-wound time around these parts. But, dang it, we’ll persevere … unlike, chances are, a certain purple-and-gold-clad team on Saturday in Death Valley.

With that, let’s do some Big Game Hunting, starting with the top five matchups on the board. (All games on Saturday unless otherwise noted. All times Eastern.)

1. No. 1 Alabama at No. 5 LSU (8 p.m., ESPN). As if the Tigers (or the Tide … or, by now, perhaps even you) care what we have to say anyway. They know how good Alabama (8-0, 5-0 SEC) is. They see how challenging it’ll be to get the job done against the nation’s top-rated defense, most efficient quarterback and best head coach.

“They have talent and they’re well-prepared. You can see it’s the team that deserves to be the No. 1 team in the country,” Les Miles said this week.

But LSU (7-1, 3-1) hasn’t given up its own championship dream yet.

“We need to do this better: We need to play for us,” Miles said. “We owe ourselves our best effort.”

Look: When your quarterback is Matt Barkley and his targets include Marqise Lee and Robert Woods, you can beat anybody, anywhere, anytime. USC did that, in fact, a year ago in Eugene—a 38-35 surprise over what clearly was a more complete Ducks team.

“They’re going to get their share of catches,” Chip Kelly said. “You’ve got to negate them.”

3. No. 16 Texas A&M at No. 17 Mississippi State (noon, ESPN). What a difference a week makes. The Bulldogs (7-1, 3-1 SEC) took their predictable beating at Alabama, and now the oddsmakers have installed them as chopped liver: seven-point underdogs vs. the Aggies (6-2, 3-2). And in Starkville, no less.

Sure, the 7-0 version of MSU probably was overrated given its unimpressive schedule. But how does a blowout loss to Alabama—which could happen to absolutely anybody, especially in Tuscaloosa—give us a definitive read on Dan Mullen’s team?

“You always define yourself in November as a team,” Mullen said.

That’s the fact, jack. As the Aggies will learn one week from Saturday when it’s their turn to be “defined” in Tuscaloosa.

4. Oklahoma State at No. 3 Kansas State (8 p.m., ABC). Very quietly, the Cowboys (5-2, 3-1 Big 12) have gotten on a roll since their loss on Sept. 29 vs. Texas. This isn’t just the nation’s leader in total offense we’re talking about. OSU’s defense allowed a total of 38 points in wins over Kansas, Iowa State and TCU.

All of which scares the Wildcats (8-0, 5-0) how much?

Bingo—not at all. Good answer, people.

5. No. 21 Nebraska at Michigan State (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2). “The stakes keep going up,” Bo Pelini said this week, “and you have to be ready to answer the call.”

That’s been a huge problem during Pelini’s four years as coach of the Huskers (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten). Will this team be a different story? If so, it has to go on the road and beat a talented, physical Spartans team that’s riding the feel-good moment of an overtime win at Wisconsin in Week 9.

Of course, all a Sparty victory does is help hated rival Michigan win the Legends Division. That’s awkward.

Four of a Kind: Streak-busters?

1. Miami (4-4, 3-2 ACC) has lost three straight home games to Virginia Tech, which is in line with all the trends in this watered-down rivalry that resumes Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN). But the Hokies (4-4, 2-2) aren’t trending well at all in 2012. A win for the Hurricanes would kick open the door to a Coastal Division title.

Five. Almost unbelievably, the record is 5-69-2. Paul Rhoads called the record “dismal”—an insult to all things dismal. But he also knows his team can be kind of tricky to beat, especially in Ames. No. 14 Sooners at Cyclones (noon, ABC) isn’t in the bag for Bob Stoops just yet.

3. Michigan at Minnesota (noon, BTN) is a historical mismatch unlike any other in the Big Ten. The Gophers (5-3, 1-3) have lost 37 of 40 to the Wolverines (5-3, 3-1) and haven’t beaten them since 2005. But Brady Hoke isn’t blowing smoke out of his Little Brown Jug when he calls Jerry Kill’s team “vastly improved.” No reason this one shouldn’t be competitive.

4. Ole Miss (5-3, 2-2 SEC) has played very well for the past month. No. 7 Georgia (7-1, 5-1)—winner of nine straight in this series—had better take the Rebs seriously this weekend in Athens (3:30 p.m., CBS).

Three Things I Don’t Want to Know Yet But Am Afraid I Already Do

1. Much of the magic has seeped from 13th-ranked Oregon State (6-1, 4-1 Pac-12), and not only because the Beavers lost last weekend. They had a great thing going before quarterback Sean Mannion got hurt, and it got even more magical when second-stringer Cody Vaz excelled. But then Mannion came back and struggled last weekend at Washington, and now Mike Riley’s turning back to Vaz due to “the integrity of competition” and … a team just plain loses something once quarterbacks start shuttling in and out of the huddle.

2. What makes No. 10 Clemson at Duke (7 p.m., ESPN2) so interesting is that the teams haven’t met since 2008. So Tigers fans will see a far more talented collection of Blue Devils (6-3, 3-2 ACC) than they remember—but also bear in mind that Clemson (7-1, 4-1) is a much-improved program itself. Upshot: no shot for the Dukies.

3. We’re going to go ahead and call TCU at No. 23 West Virginia (3 p.m., FOX) the Big 12 Bummer Bowl. Feel free to join us. It’s not that the Mountaineers (5-2, 2-2) or the Horned Frogs (5-3, 2-3) are bad teams, but Year 1 in the Big 12 has simply been, for both teams, a bummer—and there’s no reason to believe either team is going to be able to relight its fire in 2012.

Two Underdogs You Definitely Should Bet Your House On

1. Texas +7 at No. 20 Texas Tech (3:30 p.m., ABC/ESPN2). Mack Brown lost his first meeting with the Red Raiders in 1998, but since then his record in the series is 11-2—not bad at all. Both teams are 6-2 overall and 3-2 in Big 12 play, but it’s Tech with the good rep this season and the Longhorns the bad one.

Those reps mean nothing. Brown is highly confident this week—saying Texas will “get better here at the end of the year”—and that confidence makes us want to get behind the more talented team in this game.

One More Thing

Who knows how many more touchdowns current Heisman frontrunner Collin Klein will amass—with his arm and his legs—against an Oklahoma State team that’s playing well defensively but has a history of getting rolled by top offenses?

Speaking of the Heisman, watch Braxton Miller run wild as No. 6 Ohio State (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) hosts dead-on-arrival Illinois (3:30 p.m., ESPN). There is virtually no chance the Illini (2-6, 0-4) will do anything but help the superstar quarterback’s candidacy.

But do you know who has the best Heisman opportunity of all on Saturday? Alabama’s AJ McCarron. This guy has 18 touchdown passes and zero interceptions. No matter how good his teammates are, he’s still their leader—and a pretty cool, impressive one at that.

And if he leads a victory in Death Valley? Look out. He’ll emerge in every bit as strong a position as Tide running back Trent Richardson was this time a year ago.